The Netherlands: Toppers bring 'Shine' to Moscow

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Eurovision.tv

Posted 1 Febuary, 2009, 22:54

Gordon, Rene Froger and Jeroen van der Boom, better known as The Toppers, picked six songs out of more than 300 entries to perform at the Nationaal Songfestival 2009. The trio has been selected internally to represent the Netherlands at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow.

After an entertaining show live from Studio 22 in Hilversum, viewers could vote for over an hour. A professional jury had a 30% impact on the outcome. "It is amazing to have this opportunity," Rene Froger said, while Gordon was extremely happy with the fact that he is sure about participation in Moscow, unlike the previous two times he took part in the Dutch national selection.

The jury was first to vote, then the results of the televoting were announced. The jury picked Angels Of The Night as their winning song, televoters overwhelmingly backed Shine, sending thát song to Moscow.

UPDATE: During a press conference, shortly after the live show, Gordon admitted that Ger van de Westelaken does not exist! Gordon himself wrote the song together with Bas van den Heuvel. Even his two colleagues, Rene Froger and Jeroen van der Boom, did not know this until right after the show. Gordon decided to keep this silent to give each song an equal chance. Gordon's mother came to congratulate her son during the press conference, bringing the singer to tears.